Leading when you aren’t in charge
As an agriculture teacher, you are the leader of your classroom, chaos coordinator, captain of the ship, and the CEO of learning to do.
But, what if you wanted to lead MORE than just your classroom? Now, there isn’t anything wrong with wanting to lead kids. HELLO THE YOUTH IS OUR FUTURE. And leading them to be productive citizens and exceptional employers/employees is paramount.
But, sometimes we want to be able to lead our peers at a professional level. Maybe that looks like moving to administration, supporting student teachers, being an adjunct education professor, leading on a committee/non-profit, or heck starting your own thing.
Unfortunately, we know that specifically in education, those leadership positions might be limited by specialized degrees, longevity in the system, and (hate to say it but it's true) favoritism sometimes weighs heavier than skill.
And you might find yourself in a situation where you wish you could do more but there isn’t a position available for you.
We get it and know that you have it in you to lead. And we also know that leadership isn’t bound by a position on your email signature. Leadership is determined by action and there are a few simple things you can do to lead even if you don’t have a Dr. Ph.D, EDS, Department Head or State Director as your title.
And the answers have been here all along. I just needed to reach into the interwebs, and dust off some digital dust from our Green & Growing values to help you find actionable ways to lead when you aren’t in charge.
While yes these are values for our organization, we want you to know as an agriculture teacher that our whole organization was created to help support and encourage agriculture teachers. Sounds like a leader right?
To be honest, this is what G&G did. We went rogue back in 2017. We decided there was a need for agriculture teacher support in a new and different way. Nothing to take away from other support organizations but to add in addition to because we believe there is space for everyone here. There was no position or place for an organization like us, we just did it anyway and stayed committed to our values every step of the way.
And if you are someone that feels that itch to lead but knows that based on zip code, school hierarchy or family dynamics that now isn’t the time or place to be in a leadership position know that 1. You ARE a leader already and 2. You CAN lead when you aren’t in charge.
4 Ways for you to Lead Even when you aren’t in charge
Share Abundantly
This might be the most obvious connection to leadership, sharing abundantly. This was one of the first values our team landed on. We knew that we couldn’t serve others well without being able to open our hands to share abundantly.
A lot of times this might be mistaken as “let’s give everything away” which is usually met with the statement “I worked hard for this, you should have to as well.”
And TBH I kinda hate that mentality although I sometimes catch myself in that trap.
In education we aren’t meant to do it alone. Heck in LIFE you aren’t meant to do it alone. You are made for community. And sharing abundantly is part of that community.
When sharing abundantly we don’t mean that you need just open up your Google Drive to the world. We mean lending your expertise to enrich the profession.
That might look like:
-Having coffee with a teacher who wants to learn the CDE you absolutely dominate
-Sending some example scripts or training materials to a fellow teacher
-Doing a joint-practice with a closeby school for the same CDE
-Having a phone call with a teacher who needs help with their lesson for tomorrow
-Sharing a teaching tip that has saved your butt multiple times via social media
-Being a speaker at a conference like Germinate
The list can go on and on and on because sharing abundantly doesn’t look the same in every situation.
I remember (tearfully) one day at a teachers conference that I was presenting at and my son (he was a couple months old) was not having it. And a few teachers took him so I could finish presenting. While you might not classify that as a “typical” sharing abundantly they selflessly gave me their time so I could lead others. And I will never forget that.
None of these examples are true leadership positions, just ways that you can take what is in your brain and lend a helping hand to others.
Observe Others
Being a leader means being at the top right?
Welllllll, I would like to say I don’t think so. There have been MANY times I have been in leadership positions and learned more from those I was leading and vice versa.
Being a leader means that you are willing to continue to learn so you can serve better. And one of the best ways is to observe others.
And I am not going to say the typical “be in a room with 5 people better than you.” While I think it is important to learn from those ahead of you, I think it is just as important to learn from those a few years behind you.
I can't even tell you how much I learned from the multiple student teachers I’ve had in my classroom or even interns we have had on the G&G team. While these 19-22 year olds might not know EvERyThiNg a veteran teacher knows they sure as heck have a different perspective and pulse on basically every situation you will be in. And learning what they see can open your eyes to new possibilities.
It is your responsibility, even if you aren’t in a leadership position, to learn from others. And that can be by attending conferences like NAAE or Germinate, auditing another teacher's class, doing some higher level courses/PD, attending tours/trips, meeting with community members etc.
Also, pro tip: learn from people OUTSIDE of your profession. While diving into content specific learning is valuable, sometimes you need to step outside of your day-to-day to see new realms of possibilities.
Keep connected and observe others with those who inspire you regardless of their age, title, experience, or position. You never know what you can learn from someone who doesn’t see the world exactly like you.
Unite Regularly
2020-2022 kinda screwed this up for us. Those years were trying and anyone who says the impacts are gone obviously aren’t spending 5 days a week in a classroom.
We know that things twisted and changed in the pandemic and now post pandemic world that is still trying to mend itself back together.
The biggest takeaway I’ve gotten from those two years is how vitally important uniting regularly with your people is.
And I am not just saying your ag teacher friends. I mean your family, your friends you have become family, your social groups, your book club buddies, your church small group, your workout besties, whoever. Being together doing things you love is crucial.
For you to be a leader you need to pour into yourself and part of that is uniting with people who light you up, encourage you and frankly can make you belly laugh.
If you haven’t found that group yet because of a wide variety of reasons let me direct you to this blog post about finding community in education and cultivating your own community (for entrepreneurs).
Train Daily
This morning I finished Run 2 of Week 11 in my “back to running” program. I decided back in the early summer that I wanted to be a runner again. I mean I was an athlete from a young age through college and continued to work on my fitness as an obsessed Pure Barre Junkie for years.
How hard could it be?
Freaking hard I’ll tell you. Mid (pushing late) 30’s me is not the same as 22 year old college lacrosse player me .
But, what I have learned is it just takes time to get comfortable again into the daily routine of running. Am I sore, tired, out of breath, red face rivaling that of a person with MAJOR road rage? Yes. Do I feel empowered, inspired and energized afterword? You bet.
The same thing goes for leadership. You gotta train daily. And just like working out, your training regimen will look different from others.
There might be a time when you spend a lot of time reading about leadership and learning about ways you can improve your craft.
There might be times where you are wholly invested in showing up in spaces that inspire you like a community leadership group.
There may be times where you go hard on a specific leadership skill like improving your speaking abilities with toastmasters or committing to writing everyday on your LinkedIn page.
There may be times when you are committed to self reflection and keep up with journaling and meditation.
YOU get to make the training regimen that works for YOU in this time of YOUR life and what YOUR goals are.
What I know about you just from the fact that you made it this far into a blog about growing your leadership skills is that you care deeply about supporting others and that makes you qualified to lead. It might not be in an official position today but that doesn't mean it can’t be tomorrow.
Marigolds
On the top left corner of my silver MacBook Air is a sticker that means more to me than a 2 dollar piece of sticky paper should.
It’s our original “be a marigold” sticker that we ordered back in 2021.
And being a marigold has become the lifeblood of Green & Growing Education ever since.
We send these stickers to each other when we need a pick me up. We send these stickers to teachers who we see doing amazing things in the agriculture education world. We send these stickers to our consulting clients who are movers and shakers of their industries.
But, we might have left out the reason why these silly little stickers mean so much to us.
It all started when we read this blog that Kindra sent to the team way back in 2020. The TLDR (to lazy didn’t read) version is that in education you can surround yourself with marigolds or walnut trees.
Marigolds are people who are encouraging, supportive, nurturing.
Walnut Trees are people who are negative nellies, discouraging, stuck in their ways.
Stick around marigolds and be one for others. Avoid walnut trees and don’t become one.
When we read that blog we knew that:
It passed the vibe check (I mean we are Green & Growing)
Gave us a simple visual reminder of what we believe as an organization for ourselves and our community.
So today is the day that we plant our marigold flag in the ground and say “this is us, this is what we believe, and here is how you can be a part of it”
Without further adieu, I present to you the three reasons why we preach being a marigold:
THREE REASONS WHY WE PREACH “BEING A MARIGOLD”
(and why it’s the Green and Growing Motto and Mission)
1️⃣ Marigolds are beneficial
If you are an agriculture teacher reading this (which is approximately 95% of you) you know about the benefits of marigolds in the garden.
You know that they repel unwanted pests, attract beneficial insects and can even suppress weed to all the surrounding plants. What they really do is elevate the longevity and success of the garden as a whole, right?
You might also know that there are non-beneficial plants to have around. I remember when we first heard about this concept from Kindra Callahan she talked about Black Walnut trees. If you didn’t know (like me at the time) these trees are poisonous to animals and can taint the soil surrounding it.
Not too great, right?
What we believe at G&G is to be a marigold is to be beneficial. When we make decisions we make them to make sure they are beneficial to the teachers we serve.
For example, we stopped offering a winter Germinate conference this year. You might be thinking “how does that help teachers?”
Good question!
After years of providing this conference and getting feedback from our community we realized that we could never find a good time in January to allow most teachers to attend and the timing put a huge strain on the speakers to curate their awesome sessions in October, November, and December since their calendars were slammed packed from National Convention to Winter Break.
So, for the longevity and success for not just the attendees but the speakers we decided to stop offering that and put more time and effort into summer Germinate.
(If you are reading this in real time, the Germinate 2025 Speaker Application is open and we are accepting on a rolling basis to allow you more time to work on your content!)
Something else that blossomed out of a discussion about being beneficial was providing MORE resources, which is why G&G has a small library of resources for teachers to freely download, edit and use.
What hasn’t happened in a while, however, is providing new resources. So to be beneficial and to use our expertise we polled our IG followers and are currently curating new resources MONTHLY for teachers to use.
Just recently we posted the Exit Directions, Email Home and Leadership Start-Ups resources for download.
Finally, we realize wholeheartedly that our team cannot solve all of the education or agriculture education industry issues. What we CAN do is help fill gaps!
Because we have all been in a situation sitting at our desk wishing we had a resource to help us in our next class hoping that someone out there has felt something similar and could provide wisdom. And we have been there when contemplating big life changes and how they will impact our careers.
We hope that the community built within G&G can help you fill those gaps with resources and people.
2️⃣ Marigolds are companions
Going back to our horticultural roots (pun intended) we know that marigolds are fantastic companion plants.
There are certain plants that marigolds enhance, tomatoes, basil, cucumbers and peppers to name a few. They work together like peanut butter and jelly, or national blue and corn gold.
And you know what, that is what G&G wants to be for you. A companion.
Now, companions cannot just give you stuff. A companion accompanies another on their journey.
That’s like hopping in the car, stopping by the gas station for the perfect treats (I’m a white cheddar popcorn and chocolate covered pretzels person), making the perfect playlist and sitting side by side through the weather, traffic, road closures, construction and smooth cruising on that trip.
We truly want that for you. And to be honest it might not be with one of the 6 of us on the G&G team, but we know that it could be with someone you encounter in the G&G world.
Someone who might be different from your background, live in a different state, like different foods, teach different classes, has differing views and yet you become connected through your career and commitment to growth.
You’ve probably heard it before but this community changed my life. I truly felt lonely in my career (especially those first few years in a brand new state). I didn’t know who to ask for help, I felt like I couldn’t ask more veteran teachers or state staff for fear of looking weak or silly, and many times I sat alone at state events waiting for my students to return because I had no one to talk to.
That is not a way to live. Especially in a career that takes up at a minimum 40 hours a week (and that is a very low estimate).
I found my teaching buddies through the internet. And what is crazy is we talk often, if not daily. And it’s not just about teaching ag anymore.
It’s about what cool things we thrifted this weekend
It’s about funny family stories that leave us cackling
It’s about sharing the highs of the day and venting about the lows
It’s about planning the next time we can get together to have fun
THAT is a true companion!
And we know that this is a HIGH goal for us who run a virtual community. We also know that companionship must be interactive. And we know that we have less opportunities to open rooms for these organic friendships to grow.
And so, our commitment in the next few months is to provide more opportunities for live interaction between agriculture teachers.
Why?
I can still remember the people that I was on trivia teams with at Germinate
I can still remember making smores in a mug at a Virtual Coffee with a handful of you
I can still remember Ohhhing and Ahhhhing at Keynote session and seeing your faces light up
I can still remember the first time I met some of you in person
I can still remember being able to share a meal with some of you at Conventions
And you can’t have those connections or memories without being in the same room, virtually or in person.
The best way to stay up to date on these happenings is making sure you’re subscribed to The Gazette, our monthly newsletter.
3️⃣ Marigolds provide beauty
Just last night at our team meeting, we did what we normally do by sharing a win from the week.
And they can be silly like me sharing I got new glasses that turned out were the same as Hannah’s (#lifetwins) to something more heartwarming like Cassidy sharing she was awarded Teacher of the Month and her student gave a beautiful introduction about the impact Cassidy has made that had us all wiping our eyes.
And LC mentioned that she was so thankful about the G&G community because just that day she needed to talk to someone who experienced that issue before and called up someone from a different state and that conversation was “life-giving” to her.
That is the kind of beauty we hope comes from G&G if you are truly immersed in it.
We have moments that bring beauty into our lives daily when it comes to the G&G community.
We want you to be able to walk through the halls at state contests, the expo at national convention, and the banquet halls at NAAE and you feel so much joy and excitement because you are going to see your G&G friends that you have spent days, weeks, months, years talking with and now you get to do life with them together!
This is why we rented a space to have some time to feel that joy and see the beauty that this community has built over the past 5 years.
If you are interested in our in-person Marigold Meetup at National Convention 2024 fill out this form so we can get you the details.
Because when I started Ag Teacher How Tos in 2017 the goal was to just share some ideas and hope it helped a teacher or two.
What this has become since then is beyond my wildest dreams that brings me joy everyday when I sit down in the early morning or late at night to work. I have even made HUGE life decisions that allow me to stay committed to providing this community. And I wouldn't take back those decisions for a second because of what G&G means to the AgEd world and me.
We are invested in providing agriculture teachers need and deserve for the long haul.
We want to be a marigold in your life. We know we can’t be it for everyone and that you have more marigolds in your life like your state ag teachers association friends, the art teacher who is next door to you at school, or your National Ag Teacher Ambassador team.
We hope you have marigolds and that you are a marigold in others lives. We hope that G&G provides you an arena to GET from marigolds and also a place for you to GIVE as a marigold.
Overall, being a marigold is a true celebration of what and who G&G is.
G&G is a place that is beneficial, provides companionship and provides beauty in the lives of agriculture teachers. And we hope that you decide to join into the commitment of being a marigold!
A Roundup of (Free + Paid) Agriculture Resources From Green and Growing
You might have noticed that back in July the G&G team took some time away from our Zoom Squares and traveled to the Bayou for our yearly retreat.
We did our normal routine of fun including some color analysis with our good friend Bri, some much-needed thrifting, and learning Wingspan. And then we got down to BUSINESS.
This included going through EVERY OFFER we have in the G&G world and deciding if we continue offering it, if it needs a revamp, or to take it off the table.
We don’t just willy-nilly decide these things, don’t worry. We take your feedback into account, survey responses, and conversations we have on socials and in person with you! One of the things we decided was time for a MAJOR revamp was the resources we offer for agriculture teachers.
If you have been around for awhileeee, you might have purchased some resources on Teachers Pay Teachers and a couple of years ago we took all those down to focus more on Germinate Conference and resources.
And let’s be honest, we went hard on Germinate and it is the shining star of the G&G world. We love her, you love her, and she is here to stay with even some new team members at the helm stewarding her toward the next conference in July 2025.
But, those resources had a moment and then we kind of treated them like the dust bunnies behind the couch. They are there just waiting to be noticed.
And that just wasn’t good enough for us anymore. So we committed to adding MORE resources to the library for you this school year. And since we are shedding light on these resources, might as well give you a deep dive so you know what is waiting for you to download and utilize.
Resources for Agriculture Teachers
Free Resources
Downloadable Resources
Need a quick resource? We have you covered. Frequently requested resources live on the G&G takeaway library for you to use, edit, and change to your liking. These resources are designed for you to grab and go! Here are some examples you will see when you venture over to the digital stacks of the library.
Examples:
Holiday: Veterans Day is right around the corner. Did you know FFA has had connections to veterans in the past? Students can complete this web search to learn more about Veterans Day.
FFA: Raise your hand if you are headed to Indy for the Convention this year (raises hand). Raise your hand if you are a little nervy about letting teenagers loose for hours in the Expo (raises hand with sweaty palms). We get it. That’s why we created a simple Convention Scavenger Hunt for you to print and use with your kiddos this year!
Classroom: Need a new way for students to communicate their gained knowledge in a unit? Are you just OVER multiple-choice tests? The kids probably are too! Hannah created an awesome resource with everything you need to take those summative assignments from pencil tip breaking scantrons to hearing your students voice their learnings with a podcast.
SAE: We loveee when we can maximize our time with our students. One way we have done this is with Teacher SAE Conferences. This resource is a simple 3 touch base throughout the year/semester with your student to be done in class. We love the combination of this with the SAE Folder routine we learned from Jacklyn Bond.
Other Resources
Blog
If you are reading this, you have already found the crown jewel of the past few months. So happy you found this little corner of the internet. We decided last year to double down on blogging so the valuable ideas, inspiration, and content we share on socials are immortalized in a searchable format for you.
So the next time you think “Man I thought I saw an idea about how to start delegating tasks” you can find it easily on the blog. Feel free to binge-read during your 21-minute lunch breaks or the next time you have hall duty during state testing.
Podcast
The G&G podcast provided weekly episodes to connect, educate, and encourage Agriculture teachers across the country for over 3 years. While we are not updating the podcast regularly now, we have TONS of valuable content for you to binge. We also suggest checking out the Here by the Owl Podcast for awesome agriculture teacher content!
Gazette
On the first of every month imagine the G&G team pedaling down your street and slinging the newest, freshest agriculture teacher-only newspaper to your doorstep.
From our latest obsessions to news from nationals, we gather up all the ideas, resources, and more via the monthly Gazette. Join the newsletter here and don’t miss another month of fun sent straight to your inbox!
Social Media
We highlight awesome ideas from teachers on Instagram! If you are known to scroll, make sure you follow Green & Growing so you can get something out of that scroll! You will see inspiration as well as classroom resource highlights from ag teachers across the nation weekly.
Paid Resources
Germinate Conference is Green & Growing Education’s signature professional development conference. It’s designed as a virtual conference so you can connect teachers from across the country without worrying about time or money. Since 2019 Germinate has brought together over 3,500+ teachers for a one-of-a-kind experience. Germinate is coming back July 1-3 2025 and we cannot wait to welcome you! If you are wanting to step out behind the screen and serve as a speaker this year, applications are OPEN.
Starter Packs
Looking for some more immediate help in one of the 3-circle model categories? We’ve gathered some of the most impactful sessions from past Germinate conferences to create a pack of 5-6 sessions to help you in your area of choosing. Check out an SAE, FFA, or Intro to Ag starter pack here!
Germinate Hall of Fame Sessions
Maybe you’ve heard of some of the rockstar sessions from past years of the Germinate Virtual Conference. Well now you can access those sessions and their awesome takeaways by purchasing single-sessions at the Germinate Hall of Fame. Sessions like Review Activities for ANY class, Parliamentary Procedure Deep Dive and how to finally manage your Greenhouse like a pro in 2025!
One thing we are committed to is providing you more value this school year through easily accessible resources. The one thing we KNOW to be true is we cannot create things you want unless we know what you want. Here is where you can ask us to create something for YOU!
That is right, something that works for YOU is exactly what we want to create. Send us an email to greenandgrowingedu@gmail.com and we will put your idea into a cue for the next set of resources!
Delegate to Elevate: Unlocking Your Potential with Others
During my first couple of years teaching I ate alone during lunch, I sat by myself at FFA events and felt alone singing “All by myself, Don't wanna be, All by myself anymore”
I was working myself to the bone trying to make all the things happen on my own. Why? Because that is how I thought it needed to be done.
How very naive of me!
I’ll be honest it took me a while to realize I didn’t have to feel this way. I didn’t have to feel alone in my classroom, as an advisor, and most specifically with all the tasks on my to-do list.
If you actually did all the work on an Ag Teacher’s plate by yourself I think it would be a 24 hour/7 days a week/365 days a year job with more work to do.
It doesn’t have to be this way if you implement one thing into your career. Asking for help.
But, you might be saying…
What do I even ask for?
What can I even ask for help?
What if people say no?
Those are very valid questions that we have crowdsourced the answers to. Because we get it, asking for help is an acquired taste that a lot of us overachievers hate more than the taste of Vegemite or Robitussin.
In this blog post, we’re sharing three tips that you can use as you start customizing your career by maximizing delegation.
Three Tips to Customizing Your Career by Maximizing Delegation
1️⃣ Just do it
People can say no, and that’s ok.
Make a list of tasks that you have to do. Then categorize them into “I MUST DO” (like purchase orders, field trip forms, or grading) and “THINGS OTHERS CAN DO” (like coaching teams, proofreading proficiencies, dinner reservations for nationals)
Then start asking!
You might find that some of these tasks can be done by your officer team! (ex. Sending thank you cards, making phone calls, managing social media accounts, writing emails)
And maybe even involving young alumni in college who can virtually help! (ex. Coaching CDE teams, judging CDE teams, proofreading applications, big event clean up/take down, recruitment presentations, young alumni guest speakers)
Help doesn’t have to be in person! (ex. CDE coaching/judging, guest speakers, monetary help, officer application judging)
2️⃣Pick your levels of involvement
While some things require more experience and authority, there are plenty of levels of involvement for delegating in the FFA world.
Here are some examples of differing levels of involvement for help!
Low: We all know that food gets kids to show up to everything! So use your local senior citizens at an old folks home to prepare food and beverages for FFA meetings!
We each have those end-of-the-year banquets that require set up and clean up, so get a group of parent supporters to bring their students early and stay after to help. Need a guest speaker who might not be nearby?
Guest speakers can show up to your classrooms “virtually” from anywhere through an online platform like Zoom! The sky is the limit on low-level delegation.
Medium: As you get closer to award application season, use your community and industry professionals or advisory council to proofread papers/award apps, have college students Zoom (for mentorship, or to train teams), in-person guest speakers to motivate your members, send letters for financial or physical sponsorship at a banquet or for an award/scholarship.
High: Don’t coach it yourself, let the expert do it! Have a community coach prepare your CDE or LDE teams. Have someone transport or drive your students to contests/road shows and chaperone overnight trips.
3️⃣Learn from it
When you ask for help and delegate to others it is truly a learning moment.
You might realize that it didn’t work out so well or it knocked your socks off. All of these outcomes from delegating tasks are opportunities for you to learn! That might mean learning how to do the task better or even learning how to delegate more effectively!
Here is the truth: Some people are better at certain things than you. You are not an expert in everything you need to do as an ag teacher. Good news, you don’t have to be!
When you decide to hand over some control to others you might just learn a thing or two from those people. This might look like delegating a CDE team to an expert coach, delegating a guest speaker to teach about a certain topic in your classroom, or delegating copy editing of applications to an English teacher or friend who LOVES writing.
In all of these scenarios, you are attached to the event or outcome of the delegation. You will be present at some CDE practices so you are learning alongside the students, you are listening as the guest speaker teaches your class and you get to review the copy edits of those pesky applications.
As you observe and reflect on those instances you are gaining knowledge in those areas that might have caused you problems in the past. And you will be better for it instead of avoiding that work or hating it the entire time you struggle through it.
It is also important to reflect on your delegation. You need to learn what is worth delegating and what isn’t.
One thing you need to keep in mind while delegating is you must teach the expectations to the people you are delegating to. Yes, that even means if you are delegating to an adult like an industry member, student teacher, or Alumni member. You might realize that some delegated tasks were almost too much work for you to delegate (like how hard it is to sub-plan when you are sick and you tend to just go to school anyway).
Take time to reflect upon those delegated tasks and ask yourself:
“Did this help lighten my load?”
“Did the work get done to a satisfactory level?”
“Would I do this again?”
If the answers are mostly yes then delegate again!
If the answers are mostly no then think about reworking your delegation strategy (maybe change who you delegate to or up your training/expectations for your helper) or decide to delete that activity (if possible)
At the end of the day if you don't know something yet or it is something that others could do just as well as you, delegate and learn!
4 Practical Things to do During Teacher Work Days
The Walmart Back to School shelves are becoming bare.
The good erasers have been gobbled up.
The class lists have been made.
School is back in session already, very shortly or in just a few weeks.
I’m going to be honest, I LOVE BACK TO SCHOOL. I absolutely love getting brand spanking new class supplies, having time in my classroom to organize, and getting to reconnect with my coworkers.
You just can’t bottle up that type of excitement and anticipation of what the new year will bring.
Sometimes, I have to admit that this can be a downfall for me. I get so jazzed on all the exciting, sparkly, fun things and forget about the practical, required things.
This year I am committing to setting myself up for success in the planning of Back to School and not just the fun things like decorating my classroom and relabeling the chromebooks.
I am committing to the practical tasks of prepping for the school year.
These tasks are things that will not only be good for the beginning of the school year but will help me out throughout the entire school year. Why?
September show season
National Convention in October
CDE season begins in November (if not earlier)
Community Service in December and the list goes on.
Don’t even get me started on the Janfebrumarch Month of the year!
If there are a few tasks I can front load that help lift the burden of those busy times throughout the year I am going to tackle them now! I asked the G&G team to collaborate on this topic so you get to hear from singleton teachers and multi-teacher departments as well as small and large chapters!
And if you haven’t heard us say this before, know that NOT ALL ADVICE will be beneficial for you. Our goal of this list is to give you some ideas to get you started and you can make your own customized Practical Tasks of Teacher Work Days that fit your classroom, chapter and career!
4 Practical Things to Do During Teacher Work Days
REQUESTS
What is the one thing we wish we had more of? TIME. There are only so many days where you get uninterrupted hours of work and most of those days are at the beginning of the year. Those glorious Teacher Work Days (that are hopefully not too marred with meetings). Here are some tasks that might save you time (and sanity) during the school year! ⬇️
Get things done early that can be done. Now, we get it. Not everything can be done early. We also know you might have some competition dates, convention dates and recurring chapter events that you need to get planned and administration approval. We are thinking of those pesky field trip requests, bus requests, sub requests and fundraising requests.
Take the time NOW to do those types of things so you aren’t rushing the week before to get all your ducks in a row.
SYSTEMS
We are firm believers that you are the captain of your culture (shout out to Germinate 2023 Keynote Speaker Ann Vote for teaching us this). But, to be a captain you must first chart your course. You need to know what the destination is and map how you wish to get there. This starts by determining your classroom systems, routines and expectations.
-Rules/Expectations
If you don’t have them, the kids won’t know how to follow you. I had a teacher once say that this creates “free and feral” classrooms. And, I’m going to bet you don’t want that. Now, we don’t have the exact formula that is going to work for you because the best rules and expectations are going to be unique to your kids. But, don’t fall into the trap of something you don’t need to prioritize.
-Computer Clean up
This truly is something I need a good kick in the butt to do. If you have a thousand screenshots, more takeaway downloads than you can count, and folders in disarray it is time to get those cleaned up. When you take time now to create some systems and organization your future self will be thanking you later this year!
-AET Clean up/out
AET is one of my favorite resources we have as ag teachers. I also know if you use it for the classroom and SAEs with your hundreds of kiddos, it can be messy fast. Take a moment to clean out old practice applications, chapter pictures and set up for 2024-25 resources. .
RELATIONSHIPS
Que that go to teacher quote from President Roosevelt, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
You might think it’s cliche or overused but it’s truly just human nature. And if we can harness some skills that allow us to connect and care for those kids in our classroom seats, we say go for it!
Here are some of our favorite ways to start building a classroom culture focused on relationships before the school year starts! ⬇️
Send cards home
An oldie but a goodie. If you have access to student addresses, sending some snail mail might be the ticket to help ease some nerves for that first day of school.
Classroom Vibe Curation
Ambiance is a thing. Providing a space that evokes feelings of calm and relaxation can help students feel safe and ready to learn. Now, I’m not saying your classroom needs to look like a yoga studio or spa. I am saying you can take some time before kids rush in on day one to have some vibes ready.
This can look like decluttering, adding some fluorescent light covers, getting some lamps, incorporating some plants, making a spotify playlist, maybe some twinkle lights, a candle warmer (if allowed), and anything else you think will add a calming environment to your little educational sanctuary.
Time with Co-workers (retreat/mini retreat)
Your co-workers are your support staff IMHO. While they might not be your secretary they can save the day on many occasions. From the “can you watch my class while I pee?” to “how are you managing those ninth graders this year?” Start the year off with some time to rekindle those co-worker relationships.
Something simple our department did in the past was go out to our favorite local restaurant the first day of teacher work days to debrief from our summer vacations. I was lucky enough to have a teaching partner and we also started “Food Fridays” where we got takeout (usually Chick-fil-A) on Fridays and reconnected after the craziness of the week.
Whatever you do, try not to take on this job alone. There are people who would love to help you and sometimes they are just a walk down the hall!
FUN
If you came to this blog just for fun activities for the first week of school, well we have some with a caveat. We know that fun is great on the first few days/week of school, but we also know that setting your kids up to be “entertained” every class period because of how you set up the first few days MIGHT be setting yourself up for failure.
Our best word of advice is to make sure that you are running your class during those first days and weeks very similarly to how you expect it to run in October and May. Which absolutely can include fun but will most likely also include your routines, habits and expectations.
The Numbers Game
Put numbers that mean something to you on the board (ex. Your age, the year you graduated from college etc.) on the board and have students guess the meaning.
CDE Stations
Give your students a preview of what career development events they can participate in by creating stations for them to test their skills!
Emoji Tattoos
Students choose emojis tattoos that represent them and put them on so they can show their personality to everyone.
Regardless of how you want to focus your time those first few days know that we have a team at G&G cheering you on. If you are looking for more specific help when it comes to starting the school year, even if it is more FFA related contact us and we will do our best to get you the resources you need to make this school year the best yet!